that date, including a discussion on her existence. He finishes with the words "We must search for the historical St Bega, not in the glorious years of the Northumbrian Kingdom, but the dark years of its fall. But our search may well be disappointed". The modern legend The 16th-century historian John Leland seems to have been responsible for starting the "convent" legend by reference to a "humble little monastery". Unfortunately some 19th-century local historians unquestioningly accepted the pre-Viking era date given in the Life, and presumably prompted by Leland, they embellished the tale with the founding of a convent. In the words of John Todd writing in 1980, "Local historians in the last century had no doubt about the answer. She was an Irish saint who crossed the sea about 650 to found a convent at St Bees, which was destroyed in the Viking invasion. But there is no evidence in the Life or elsewhere that Bega's life at St Bees was other than solitary". Regrettably, the very dubious 7th-century date and the imaginary convent are perpetuated today in many guidebooks, including the pages of Nikolaus Pevsner. St. Bega in modern writing Melvyn Bragg wrote the long historical novel Credo, with St Bega as the central character. He telescoped the events and dates of several centuries into the lifespan of the saint. However, this is freely admitted as an artistic device; unlike the medieval writer of the Life. The work re-awakened interest in St Bega. In 2000, local author Jill Hudson was commissioned by St Bees Priory PCC to write a play about St Bega to celebrate the Millennium. This play, 'The Bracelet of St Bega', was staged in the Priory for three nights in November 2000. A fresh adaptation by Gus Kennedy was similarly staged in the Priory in November 2010 in the week of the feast of St Bega. Lorna Goodison wrote a poem Across the fields to St Begas, reprinted in The Guardian. Folklore author and esoteric explorer Alex Langstone has written about Bega in his controversial psychic questing book Spirit Chaser, which includes parts of her legendary life and connections to Bassenthwaite and St Bees in Cumbria. Churches of St Bega The parish church of Bassenthwaite, Cumbria, some distance south of the village near Bassenthwaite Lake, is dedicated to St Bega. It was built around 950AD and is still used for regular services and weddings; it